The MRI apparatus is an imaging diagnostic apparatus which magnetically excites nuclear spins of an object set in a static magnetic field with RF (radio frequency) signals having the Larmor frequency and reconstructs images based on MR (magnetic resonance) signals generated due to the excitation.
In recent years, usefulness of longitudinal relaxation time (T1) distribution images has been pointed out in an examination of the heart using an MRI apparatus. A T1 distribution image can be obtained by continuously acquiring time series MR signals from a region, which is a generation target of the T1 distribution image data, after applying an IR (inversion recovery) pulse in synchronization with an ECG (electro cardiogram) signal, as a distribution of time constants of recovery curves of MR signals, by the longitudinal relaxation (T1 relaxation), obtained at respective pixel positions based on the acquired time series MR signal train.
The T1 in a myocardial infarction part is shorter than the T1 in a normal myocardial tissue. Therefore, generating T1 distribution image data with a clear contrast allows expecting to use the T1 distribution image data for an identification of a myocardial infarction part.
An object of the present invention is to provide a magnetic resonance imaging apparatus and a magnetic resonance imaging method which can obtain useful information for an examination of a heart with a higher accuracy.